Independent voices from the TWT Communities
A leading Muslim Brotherhood member and adviser to Islamist President Mohammed Morsi created a stir in Egypt when he called on Egyptian Jews in Israel to return home because Egypt is now a democracy and because the Jewish state won't survive.
Tens of thousands of backers and foes of Egypt's Islamist president took to the streets in competing demonstrations Tuesday, as divisions over a draft constitution that is set for a referendum Saturday spilled into violence for the second time in two weeks.
Tensions heightened in advance of massive anti-government protests scheduled for Friday and Saturday after an Islamist-controlled panel hurriedly approved Thursday a final draft of Egypt's constitution that, among its new dictates, would grant Muslim clerics a role in interpreting some legal matters — angering critics and worrying minorities in this secular Islamic nation.
The power struggle between Egypt's Islamic and secularist forces intensified Wednesday, with some analysts warning of civil war and supporters of the Islamist government planning to march Saturday on a central square in Cairo where opponents have been holding a sit-in for more than a week.
Mr. Fahmy said Egyptians should talk about the past "harm to Egyptian Jews" and consider them as still having Egyptian nationality.
"I wish this was put to a public discussion," he said.
